Pastor Peter Godwin has alleged that the Living Faith Church International, popularly known as Winners Chapel, sacked him and about 40 other pastors in Ekiti State for failing to grow their respective parishes.
Godwin said that, on July 1, he received a call that the state pastor wanted to see him, and that he was surprised to see about 40 other pastors when he arrived, PUNCH reports.
“When I got there, I saw other pastors too, over 40 of them. So, I joined them.
“A few minutes later, we were [each] issued a letter. I opened the content of the letter to see what was there and I saw that it was a sack letter.
“So, I called the management the next day to find out what happened since I wasn’t involved in any dubious activity or evil act. I was told by the management that the church doesn’t operate at a loss.
“They also told me that the total income that is being generated from my station should be able to cater for my welfare and accommodation, so as a result of low income, I’m hereby dismissed,” he stated.
One of the letters dated June 25, 2021 and signed by the Executive Secretary of the church, Adebisi Aboluwade, is trending on social media.
In the letter, the pastors were asked to vacate their official accommodation and hand over their identity cards to their respective area pastors.
“Consequent upon the recent performance reviews which revealed that your church growth index falls below expectations.
“Please be informed that your services as a pastor in charge are no longer required from this commission with immediate effect.
“You are to vacate the official accommodation (where applicable) and hand over all properties of the ministry in your custody, including your staff identity card to the area pastor before departure,” the letters reads in part.
According to PUNCH, a source within Winners’ church, however, stated that the sacking of the pastors had nothing to do with money; rather, the source said, it involved membership growth.
“As indicated in the letter, pastors were sacked for failing to grow membership, which is a key aspect of the ministry.
“It had nothing to do with money and nowhere in any of the letters of disengagement was it stated that it was about money,” the source said.